U.S. Senate campaign

BRENTWOOD, TN – Today, a majority of Republican state Senators announced their support of Marsha Blackburn for U.S. Senate. The endorsements come from all across Tennessee and add to a growing list of Tennesseans backing Blackburn for Senate.

With Stephen Fincher ending his candidacy in Tennessee’s 2018 U.S. Senate race, a new Smart Politics report examines how sitting and former U.S. Representatives from the Volunteer State have fared in primary and general elections for the state’s upper legislative chamber over the last century:

● A Smart Politics analysis finds that prior to 2018, sitting and ex-Tennessee U.S. Representatives have been victorious in eight of 22 U.S. Senate bids in the direct election era (36.4 percent) with Democrats winning seven of 15 and the GOP one of seven.

● William Brock is the only Republican U.S. Representative from Tennessee to win a U.S. Senate seat since 1913, with failed attempts by Henry Evans (1918), B. Carroll Reece (1948), Robin Beard (1970), Ed Bryant (2002, 2006), and Van Hilleary (2006).

Former U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher, the gospel signing farmer from Frog Jump, is dropping out of the U.S. Senate race and urging incumbent Sen. Bob Corker to reconsider his decision not to seek a third term.

“My campaign has always been about what’s best for Tennessee,” Fincher said in a statement released Friday afternoon. “Tennessee families need a strong conservative voice in the Senate, someone who will stand with President Trump and lead the Republican Party forward.

A poll of likely Tennessee Republican primary voters, commissioned by the Senate Conservatives Fund, found 64 percent want Bob Corker to retire from the U.S. Senate while 24 percent said he should run for reelection with 12 percent undecided, according to Breitbart News.

The poll also found that Blackburn – who has been endorsed by SCF – would be strongly favored to defeat Corker and U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher a hypothetical three-way Republican U.S. Senate The results: 49 percent for Blackburn, 26 percent for Corker and 9 percent for Fincher.

Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s campaign said Tuesday — responding to reports that Sen. Bob Corker is considering reversing an earlier decision and running for reelection to a new U.S. Senate term — that anyone who thinks she can’t win the general election in Tennessee’s U.S. Senate race is a “plain sexist pig,” reports the Associated Press.

The New York Times reports, meanwhile, that President Donald Trump has been encouraging Blackburn and rebuffing – so far – what one Republican calls a “charm offensive” by Sen. Bob Corker and supporters seeking the president’s support for Corker seeking for reelection.

Following up on earlier reports, Politico says “a faction of Republicans in Tennessee and Washington” – worried that Republican Marsha Blackburn could lose the November U.S. Senate general election and give Democrats a Senate majority – continues to urge Sen. Bob Corker to reconsider his retirement plans.

A Blackburn spokeswoman scoffs at the notion of the current congressman as a loser and Corker is non-committal (though someone ‘close’ to the senator says he’s listening), according to the lengthy article. The piece also suggests that Corker has “reached out” to President Donald Trump to get his thinking on a retreat from retirement.

Politico reports that a late January poll had Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen leading Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn 47% to 45% in a head-to-head matchup in the Tennessee Senate race.

The poll conducted by Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies indicates that a generic Republican would be preferred over a Democrat, and that President Donald Trump retains a strong approval rating. The takeaway, Politico says, is that “Blackburn is in for a tough race” even in a heavily Republican state like Tennessee.

Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker has been talking to colleagues about the possibility of reconsidering his announced retirement, according to a CNN report.

The details are sketchy, even within the context of the anonymous rumor mongering typical of Washington political reporting. CNN says there’s disagreement about whether Corker has initiated the talks about his political future, or if the subject just came up when it was raised by colleagues who want him to run again.

(Update: The Tennessean has spoken to a top Corker adviser, who says: “It is true that Senator Corker has been encouraged by people across Tennessee and in the Senate to reconsider his decision, but at this point nothing has changed.”)

Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s U.S. Senate campaign has reserved $1 million worth of ad time on Fox News between April 27 and the primary election on Aug. 2.

Campaign adviser Ward Baker says in a memo that it was key to reserve the premium statewide inventory during the 14-week ad run now because of the crowded field of candidates in the governor’s race and various congressional contests will drive up demand for limited airtime.

Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn leads former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen 50.7 percent to 39.7 percent in a recent poll commissioned by Tennessee Star of prospective voters in hypothetical matchup for the general U.S. Senate election. The poll also found that Bredesen has a lead – 41.5 percent to 38.2 percent – in a match with former Republican Rep. Stephen Fincher as the GOP nominee.